Khabib Nurmagomedov's lightweight title defence against Tony Ferguson has been affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

John Kavanagh has given his thoughts on the Khabib vs Tony Ferguson saga (Image: GETTY)

Conor McGregor's head coach John Kavanagh believes the coronavirus outbreak could be a blessing in disguise for Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. The COVID-19 outbreak has caused chaos across the globe, with entire cities on lockdown and major events being cancelled.

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The global pandemic has also impacted the UFC, with the promotion forced to indefinitely postpone three events.

The UFC's next pay-per-view event, UFC 249, has also felt the effects of the virus - with the card losing its venue in Brooklyn, New York.

Nurmagomedov and Ferguson's preparations for the card, which they are due to headline, have also been drastically affected by the virus.

The final stages of the pair's respective camps will see them have limited contact with training partners and significantly less, if not zero, sparring due to the manner in which the virus can be transmitted.

I think the only real effect is they'll come in completely injury-free

John Kavanagh on the effect the coronavirus has had on Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson

The lack of hard rounds is less than ideal for both fighters, who have sizeable tasks on their hands to negate the other's best weapons.

Kavanagh, however, doesn't believe the lack of intense training will have a detrimental effect on Nurmagomedov and Ferguson.

In fact, the SBG Ireland head coach believes the pair, whose long-awaited meeting has fallen through a staggering four times due to a myriad of injuries and complications from a botched weight cut, will benefit from not having to go through the normally arduous final weeks of a training camp.

"If the April 18th fight happens," Kavanagh tweeted. "Honestly I can't see how it does but let's be optimistic and say it does then what effect will 4-5 weeks of no real grappling/sparring have.